Joel Surnow, newly minted conservative hero, the producer of 24 and the upcoming train wreck “comedy” show that is “Half-Hour News Hour” said this in an interview:
One of the things you always look to in the TV-content business is what’s not out there. One of the things that’s definitely not out there is a satirical voice that skews to the right as opposed to the left. You can turn on any comedy satire show on TV and you’re going to hear 10 Bush jokes, 10 Cheney jokes, but you’ll never hear a Hillary Clinton joke or a global-warming send-up. It’s just not out there.
It took me literally half a minute to find this:
Of course, unlike these flameout conservative efforts, The Daily Show is actually funny. A radical concept.
That’s the thing I don’t understand about criticism of The Daily Show. Anyone who watched it during the Clinton Administration knows the show’s jokes almost always revolved around Bill Clinton’s penis, not to mention many many jokes reserved for Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp, and yes…Hillary Clinton.
For the last six years (until less than two months ago) we’ve had Republican control of all three branches of government. Republicans call the shots and guess what, The Daily Show makes fun of them.
I’m not saying that Jon Stewart isn’t liberal and that most of the writers aren’t progressives–they are. But they don’t come into work to pound their message–their job is to make fun of people in power when they do or say stupid shit.
Had the concept for this Half-Hour-News-Hour been to staff a news satire show with mostly conservative comics in an attempt to satire people in power with a natural rightward tilt, the show could have been, at least not terrible. But when a show puts its own tendentious agenda first, and trying to be funny second, it will fail. Miserably.
What Daily Show does better than anyone else anywhere is media criticism.
Stewart does a fairly mediocre accent there. But to be fair, it’s not really a “New Hampshire” accent, but a rural northern New England accent that crosses state boundaries. As one who grew up in that region (but, as Oliver can attest, has no accent whatsoever — a speech therapist I met once told me so), I can impersonate it pretty well — far better than Stewart.
For the record, he lost it when he put the “p” at the end of “ayup.” It’s more of a glottal stop, almost a “t” sound (but not quite). Still, Stewart did better than a New York City Jew has any business doing when trying that accent.
And yes, on topic, it was a pretty decent dig at Hillary. And also I’m expecting Fox’s show to suck, then tank. There are some very funny conservatives around (as I noted a little while ago — http://wizbangblog.com/2006/11/21/now-thats-right-funny.php) — but these bozos ain’t them.
J.
Yes, I am accentless, which strangely allows me to do a pretty decent job emulating other ones.
But when a show puts its own tendentious agenda first, and trying to be funny second, it will fail.
I had an argument along those lines with a fellow liberal some time ago who was upset at the Daily Show for “betraying” the liberal cause by making fun of a Democrat. I kindly explained to him that the Daily Show is first and foremost a COMEDY SHOW and to not jump on a Democrat who provided a target rich environment would be the ultimate betrayal.
Humor before idealogical purity, folks.
I went a bit further than that in my criticism, if anyone’s interested; http://e-cclesiastes.blogspot.com/2007/02/half-hour-waste-of-half-hour.html
Joel Surnow’s behind The Half Hour Lol Librulz Hour? Figures.
I love 24 but I never know who the show wants me to root for. Particularly since David Fury came along after season 4 and its evil Amnesty International people.
Evil Amnesty International people, for the love of God.
“There are some very funny conservatives around..”
Intentionally funny, Jay?
I know I’ll prob’ly get shit for this, but I saw Dennis Miller’s HBO thing last night and it was pretty funny.
Given that his off-the-wall literary references sail over the heads of, well, just about everybody, it does show that he thinks about stuff.. don’t know how many Baewolf bits can really stick.
He did make the obligatory “The French are teh suck” jokes, but still, at least he’s trying.
If you actually read the piece of mine I quoted, I cited several:
James Lileks
P. J. O’Rourke
Christopher Buckley
Scott Ott
Drew Carey
The crew at IMAO.com
Iowahawk
The Blue Collar Comedy guys (speculative, but I feel pretty safe there)
And that’s without really trying.
J.
the secret to republican humor is that – no matter what – THE EMPEROR IS ALWAYS WEARING CLOTHES.
and that is why they can not be funny.
“And that’s without really trying.”
Wait, there are times when you actually try?
i do draw a distinction. Conservatives can be funny. Republicans cannot.
Scott Ott?
IMAO?
Iowahawk?
-About as funny as a fire at a Shriners Hosptial.
Forget it, Jay. Wingnuts are to humor as KFC is to chicken.
Wingnuts are to humor as KFC is to chicken.
Now, that’s fuckin funny.
Shorter frameone:
(generic, pointless, irrelevant cheap shot in place of substance)
condensed PD100:
“They don’t agree with me, so they can’t be funny.”
frame seems to operate on the polecat principle: “I’ll stink up the place so badly, the dissenters will be driven off.” Of course, this means that he’ll have to live with the stench of his own fouled diapers, but that seems to be a fairly small price for him.
J.
How many conservatives does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Officially they all say 2, that is, only a man and woman sanctified by the holy bonds of matrimony and only in the missionary position and with the lights off. Which is why the lightbulb is available in the first place.
Unofficially, it is however many and however they can get it, whether it be an underaged page, at a sex club, man on man, man on box turtle and always in the dark because if it ever came to light they would be publicly disgraced and have to go to alchohol rehab or for seesions of intense church oriented therapy. Which again is why the lightbulb is still available, unless shards of said lightbulb are being extracted from their ass or other orifice by some hapless ER doctor.
Conservatives really are funny.